Obesity or being overweight has been identified as one of the leading causes of roughly half a million cancer cases annually. In a recent study published in The Lancet Oncology Journal, it was revealed that this observation has been seen to be more prevalent among women than men while more serious cases of cancer linked to obesity are found in North America. This research was conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to the study, people with high body mass index (BMI) are more prone to incur cancer. In the 2012 data gathered by the IARC, it was found that high BMI had been a major risk factor for roughly 3.6 percent or 481,000 cancer cases that year.
At present, North America has been identified to have the most number of cancer cases linked to weight problems. The region had been found to have recorded 111,000 cancer cases associated with being overweight. This accounted for 23 percent of the total number of obesity-related cancer cases worldwide in 2012. Meanwhile, 6.5 percent or roughly 65,000 cancer cases are attributed to obesity annually in Europe.
In a press release, IARC Director Dr. Christopher Wild disclosed that "the number of cancers linked to obesity and overweight is expected to rise globally along with economic development." In addition, Dr. Wild asserted that this recently released research should emphasize the need to enact "efficient weight control measures, to curb the high number of cancers associated with excess body weight and to avoid the problems faced by rich countries being repeated in those now undergoing rapid development."
Dr. Kate Allen, a contributor to the study and a researcher at the World Cancer Research Fund International, described the data gathered as "stark figures." She also noted that the number of people prone to obesity-related cancers depict the severity of the situation.
"These stark figures highlight just how serious the problem of obesity is. If we don't start confronting the problem of weight, this situation will only get worse," Dr. Allen shared.
Apart from these discoveries, the study also revealed that cancers associated with obesity or being overweight are more prevalent among women than men. Dr. Melina Arnold, one of the research's authors, described the number of obese and overweight women affected as "disproportionate."
"Women are disproportionately affected by obesity-related cancers," Dr. Arnold explained. "For postmenopausal breast cancer, the most common cancer in women worldwide, the study suggests that 10 per cent of these cancers could have been prevented by having a healthy body weight," she added.
Furthermore, the study posited that one-fourth or 118,000 cases of obesity- and overweight-related cancers could have been averted if the populations afflicted managed to maintain the BMI of 30 years ago.
